I was getting a sandwich from the deli section of Whole Foods (literally standing behind the “making copies” guy, which was weird) when I realized that they were playing this Christmas ditty over the speakers:
I don’t know why this particular Bing Crosby/David Bowie song caught the public imagination so strongly (you never hear any other songs from that Christmas special), but I do wonder what the conversation went like after the shoot:
BING: So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day? I was going to try to get in nine holes with Bob. You want to make it a threesome?
BOWIE: Blimey, I’m too tired for any more threesomes today, and don’t even talk about getting in holes! My black girlfriend can’t sing, my white girlfriend is exhausted from being on Roxy Music album covers and selling disco albums in Europe, and my wife is away at Wonder Woman tryouts. I think I’m just going to go snort cocaine off a teenage boy’s ass!
Actually, Bowie was getting his life back together at that point, and probably wanted to appear with Bing just to make himself look normal (read “not a bisexual android”) for American audiences. He’d already been trying hard a couple years earlier by writing weekly little diary entries (they read like LiveJournal entries) for Mirabelle Magazine. I’ve been parsing through these, and there are amazing little snippets of info, like this:
Speaking of wild costumes and people dancing and acting crazy – I’ve just gone to see the most amazing show! You may have heard something about it – it’s called ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ – and I must say it’s one of the most bizarre shows I’ve ever seen, besides mine, of course! All the characters from all the old Beatles’ songs come to life right before your very eyes! Strawberry Fields is a really pretty girl with a fabulous voice; Mr. Kite is a glitter rock star; Rita, the meter maid, turns out to be a man. The costumes and sets are just spectacular – and everyone in the show is super talented. It’s one of the biggest hits in New York these days and soon the whole show will go on the road. It’s even set to go to Japan, so it looks like it may come your way, too!